A Butterfly's Lesson

A Butterfly’s Lesson

”One day, a small oppening appeared on a cocoon; a man sat and watched
for the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body
through that little hole....

Then, it seemed to stop making any progress.
It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could not go
any further. So the man decided to help the butterfly: he took a pair of
scissors and opened the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily.

But it had a withered body, it was tiny and shrivelled wings. The man
continued to watch because he expected that, at any moment, the wings
would open, enlarge and expand, to be able to support the butterfly’s
body, and become firm.

Neither happened!
In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a
withered body and shrivelled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man, in his kindness and his goodwill, did not understand was
that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly
to get through the tiny opening, were God’s way of forcing fluid from
the body of the butterfly into its wings, so that it would be ready for
flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes, struggles are exactly what we need in our life.
If God allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it
would cripple us. We would not be as strong as we could have been. Never
be able to fly.

I asked for Strength...
And God gave me difficulties to make me strong.
I asked for Wisdom...
And God gave me Problems to solve.
I asked for Prosperity...
And God gave me a Brain and Brawn to work.
I asked for Courage…..
And God gave me obstacles to overcome.
I asked for Love...
And God gave me Troubled people to help.
I asked for Favors...
And God gave me Opportunities.

“I received nothing I wanted...
But I received everything I needed."

Have a great and beautiful Saturday.

Storms brewing............................

Never stop believing
 

 http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/an-apology-to-elephants/index.html
I love elephants and although this is very sad to watch perhaps it will help
elephants in the future.

 

“I believe the single most significant decision I can make on a day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude. It is more important than my past, my education, my bankroll, my successes or failures, fame or pain, what other people think of me or say about me, my circumstances, or my position. Attitude keeps me going or cripples my progress. It alone fuels my fire or assaults my hope. When my attitudes are right, there is no barrier too high, no valley too deep, no dream too extreme, no challenge too great for me.”
--Charles R. Swindoll
 

Happy Friday and have a glorious long weekend

...When you pray for others, 

God listens to you,
and blesses them,
And sometimes, When you, ...
are safe and happy,
Remember that someone
has prayed for you.

Happy Friday and have a safe and glorious long weekend

Keep happy healthy and safe everyone.

Chow Mein Oven Baked

Fall is on it's way and that's when comfort foods like this one come to mind.
It is also a great dish to make for company, once it's assembled you stick it in the oven and you have time to set a nice table!

• 1 pound ground beef
• 2 large stalks of celery, chopped
• 1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped (this is really good without the onion:)
• 1/2 cup rice, uncooked
• 1 1/4 cups boiling water
• 1 can cream of chicken or mushroom soup
• 1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped
• 1/4 cup water chestnuts, drained and chopped
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 1/2 cups chow mein noodles

1. In a skillet over medium high heat, cook ground beef, celery, green pepper, and onion (if you choose to use it) until the ground beef is lightly browned. Drain excess grease.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients except for the chow mein noodles.
3. Pour into a greased 9 x 13" pan.
4. Cover with foil and bake in a 350º oven for 60 minutes.
5. Stir in half of the chow mein noodles and sprinkle the other half over the top.
6. Serve immediately.

Above recipe from the blog Mennonite Girls can Cook


 a recipe isn't a secret.

It's more like sheet music.

Each player, conductor, or singer adds

 his or her own personality

{Joanne Chang}

Recipe Quote as seen on the lovely blog Bluebird Notes

Always love this colour for all.

Orange you glad Fall will soon arrive.

Autumn Abundance by me Jeanne 



Coolness, crispness and colours galore


Autumn soon once again you will arrive at our door





The Hues, new shoes, school schedules appear once again

Before me all accents of the most autumn kind


Yes we are leaving our summer behind

Crickets casanova, birds spell out a V in flight
Chinese lanterns in our gardens, wind chimes more echoes abound
Birds soon fly south, and oh the taste in my mouth
of our glorious Thanksgiving feasts, a bountiful harvest
Pumpkins, ghourds and Halloween soon
and our Canadian Thanksgiving with pumpkin pie and the ice cream spoon

I'll embrace you autumn and again in silent prayer will say......... 
Thank you God for our beatuiful seasons.......
Thank you God for our reasons to embrace love and joy
and one another.

Jeanne Caron

Let us all live applely ever after~♥

Happiness is not something you postpone for the 

future; it is something you design for the present."



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6phWWZ5lA0&feature=related&nomobile=1

Friday song for the soul
Me and my dear cousin Cheryl share songs and
many other things each day
Thank you dearly.
Love you ♪

Two Frogs

Two Frogs

A group of frogs was traveling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit. When they saw how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead. The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit with all their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead. Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down and died. The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He jumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, "Did you not hear us?” The frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.

This story teaches two lessons:

1. There is power of life and death in the tongue. An encouraging word to someone who is down can lift them up and help them make it through the day.

2. A destructive word to someone who is down can be what it takes to kill them.

Be careful of what you say. Speak life to those who cross your path. The power of words... it is sometimes hard to understand that an encouraging word can go such a long way. Anyone can speak words that tend to rob another of the spirit to continue in difficult times. Special is the individual who will take the time to encourage another.

Be careful of the words you speak keep them soft and sweet
For if you are not careful in the morning you will never know which ones you will have to eat.

Kindness is the highest form of wisdom

Believe in the Power of this Day

Muuuuuuuah a beautiful creation by my darling friend Dani.

Love you 

Believe in the power of this day,
Believe in the beauty of your smile.
Believe in the strength of your soul,
Believe in the resilience of your heart.
Believe in the magic of this moment,...
Believe in the purpose of your life.
Believe, for they are all true.
~Doe Zantamata

Always Believe

I am re-reading the fabulous book
The Shack and think enjoying just as much as the first time.

How about you what is on your reading list.

The crickets are having a casinova of serenades and the grasshoppers are in  abundance on my early morning walks.

What is before your eyes this morning?

My beautiful daughter of the heart Ahram

making time for daydreams.

What a day for a daydream♪

beautiful blog

with eloquence of words

that deeply touch my heart

http://fromthehouseofedward.blogspot.ca/

Please visit this beautiful blog if you can.

Love is the light that dissolves all walls

between souls, families and nations."
~ Paramahansa Yogananda

Logan gets his first hair cut.

Muuuuuuuah

• As you begin to be grateful for what most people take for granted, the vibration of gratitude makes you more receptive to good in your life. ~Michael Beckwith~

Logan's first Hair cut

One hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove. But the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child♥

░Y░O░U ░A░R░E░░A░░B░L░E░S░S░I░N░G░ My Lovely SoulShine

My eternal springtime and sunshine my precious grandson Logan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OINa46HeWg8

I Forgot my Phone

✫* 
(¯`♥´¯).✫* 
`*.¸.* ´
Gratitude is one of the sweet shortcuts 
to finding peace of mind and happiness inside. 
No matter what is going on outside of us,
there's always something we could be grateful for....
- Barry Neil Kaufman

Soulful Sunday

My Son's words regarding his time with Logan on the mountain

Logan's first real mountain accent today with daddy! Mt. Samgak done and dusted, buddy. What's next?! Can't believe it took me two years to figure out that there's a trail to Bukhansan right from my apartment - danggit! — at Bukhansan National Park.


The best thing you can spend on your children is time.


People are wanting to find peace and happiness in life by trying to make the surface of their lives smooth, placid, and undisturbed. We seek pleasure, and avoid pain. We try to engineer some set of life circumstances that we imagine will being peace and happiness. We attend conferences and seminars, and read books, in hopes of finding some new and improved way of eliminating the waves and achieving a smooth, disturbance-free life. It is not going to  happen. Ever! There will be waves. That’s just what happens. That’s the way it is.

But here’s the good news. It’s not necessary to have a wave-less life to have peace and happiness.

Above quote starting with people are is from Facebook.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=czkJYLqylzs

Thanks for always putting a song in my heart

Link from Chris Holland thanks Chris


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV_dbCF1jOA&list=PLAD7DCA07F91423B0&index=15&safe=active

When Stars go Blue

Thanks
Relyn for your fabulous Friday
Faves..............Please visit her lovely blog



Come Sit by My Fire  link in the sidebar.

Have a fabulous
Sunday♥


"When you look upon another human being
and feel great love toward them,
or when you contemplate beauty in nature and
something within you responds deeply to it,
close your eyes for a moment and feel
the essence of that love or that beauty within you,
inseparable from who you are, your true nature.
The outer form is a temporary reflection
of what you are within, in your essence.
That is why love and beauty can never leave you,
although all outer forms will."
~ Eckhart Tolle

Have more than you show, speak less than you know .

Shakespeare.

ƸӜƷ ⋰⋱ ƸӜƷ ⋰⋱ ƸӜƷ⋰⋱ƸӜƷ ⋰⋱ ƸӜƷ ⋰⋱ ƸӜƷ⋰⋱ƸӜƷ

¸♥´¯) ♥♥¸.´♥ " Nothing gives a person so much advantage over
(¸♥´ (¸.♥´´¯`♥. another as to remain always cool and unruffled
♥`•.¸♥♥¸.♥´´¯`♥ under all circumstances." ~Thomas Jefferson

Another day, another blessing and another chance at life. Take nothing for granted and think of every breath as a gift.

http://crockpot365.blogspot.ca/


A year of slow cooking

(⁀°\/°⁀)*Have a beautiful and blessed Sunday♥
.(ღ/\ღ) *Love Light and Peace*´´¯`•.¸¸.-:¦:-

Fresh corn on the cob

Fresh bunches of basil

Fresh field tomatoes and greek feta cheese in the brine.

I am looking forward to watching the Oprah interview tonight with Tina Turner and her new husband.

Have I ever told you how much I love Oprah and her OWN network?

Loved her in the movie The Butler too.

Love and hugs

Embrace your bliss it is the key to happiness

• Nothing is more beautiful and powerful than a smile that has struggled through the tears. Don’t regret your time, even the moments that were filled with hurt. Smile because you learned from it and gained the strength to rise above it. In the end, it’s not what you have been through that defines who you are; it’s how you got through it that has made you the person you are today, and the person you are capable of being tomorrow. - via: http://www.marcandangel.com/2012/09/28/9-rules-for-turning-endings-into-new-beginnings/

Gorgeous Saturday Morning

http://justindouellette.wordpress.com/

So proud of my Son and proud to be his Mother

It's gorgeous these days so I have been out and about all week with friends
visiting and catching up...................

I have been going for walks around our neighborhood and getting to know more and more people.

Lovely gorgeous days.

My Sister calls me every Saturday morning and we have wonderful visits on the phone.
We get together quite often too.

What have you been up to this week?

☆¸.•´¯`•.¸☆..✫...(⁀‵⁀,)
"The purpose of our lives is to give birth
to the best which is within us
~Marianne Williamson

A very happy birthday to my beautiful friend Lisa.

I love you Lisa wishing you all the very best indeed.

 

Welcome to the world Riley

and congratulations to you all

 

 

Pursue things that catch your heart

☆҉‿❥ℒℴve♥☆҉‿❥
♥♥░(¯`:´¯)░♥ I'm
░.(¯ `•.\|/.•´¯)♥ sending You
░(`♥•.().•´¯)░(¯`:.´¯)♥ Love
░ (_.•´/|\`•._)(¯ `•.\|/.•´¯) ♥&♥ Light
♬•*´¯`❥ℒℴve♥☆҉‿↗♡⁀↘♪♬.•*´¯`❥ℒℴve♥♬•*´¯`♥
Hope you had a soul inspiring day!! ♬•*´¯`♥

There are things in life that will catch your eye but few will catch your heart pursue those.

Monday once again

"Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting." ~ Elizabeth Bibesco

Us pictured side by side in our teens 

and we are still side by side and loving it.

It's the birthday week of my fabulous cousin Cheryl.

Everyday I celebrate you ......

each and every day all year through.

You are most special and most loved.

Blessed is the influence of one true, loving human soul on another.
-George Eliot 

＊╰╮. ≀ .╭╯
. ⌣⌢ (ˆ◡ˆ) ⌢⌣ Singing... " Don't worry about a thing 'cause
. ☾ ╭╯˙≀˙╰╮every little thing gonna be alright!".. Have a wonderful day dear family and friends´´¯`•.¸¸.-:¦:-

A recipe shared with me from my cousin Brenda Thank you 

...GARLIC & LEMON CHICKEN W/GREEN BEANS & RED POTATOES!

(Gluten free, Low Carb, Diabetic Friendly and so simple to make)

(Please SHARE... so that it saves to your timeline. You can refer back to recipe later!).

INGREDIENTS
6 tablespoons olive oil
2 lemons, 1 thinly sliced, 1 juiced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 pound trimmed green beans
8 small red potatoes, quartered
4 chicken breasts (bones left in, with skin, about 3 1/4 pounds)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat a large baking dish or cast-iron skillet with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Arrange the lemon slices in a single layer in the bottom of the dish or skillet.

In a large bowl, combine the remaining oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper; add the green beans and toss to coat. Using a slotted spoon or tongs, remove the green beans and arrange them on top of the lemon slices. Add the potatoes to the same olive-oil mixture and toss to coat. Using a slotted spoon or tongs, arrange the potatoes along the inside edge of the dish or skillet on top of the green beans. Place the chicken in the same bowl with the olive-oil mixture and coat thoroughly. Place the chicken, skin-side up, in the dish or skillet. Pour any of the remaining olive-oil mixture over the chicken.

Roast for 50 minutes. Remove the chicken from the dish or skillet. Place the beans and potatoes back in oven for 10 minutes more or until the potatoes are tender. Place a chicken breast on each of 4 serving plates; divide the green beans and potatoes equally. Serve warm.

• 
  

  ...✫*...

  (¯`♥´¯).✫*
  `*.¸.* ´
  Gratitude is one of the sweet shortcuts
  to finding peace of mind and happiness inside. ...
  No matter what is going on outside of us,
  there's always something we could be grateful for....
  - Barry Neil Kaufman

An African tribe does the most beautiful thing.

When someone does something hurtful and wrong, they take the person to the center of town, and the entire tribe comes and surrounds him.

For two days they'll tell the man every good thing he has ever done. ...

The tribe believes that every human being comes into the world as Good, each of us desiring safety, love, peace, happiness.

But sometimes in the pursuit of those things people make mistakes. The community sees misdeeds as a cry for help.

They band together for the sake of their fellow man to hold him up, to reconnect him with his true Nature, to remind him who he really is, until he fully remembers the truth from which he'd temporarily been disconnected:

“I AM GOOD.”


“GOD WILL NOT LOOK YOU OVER FOR MEDALS, DEGREES OR DIPLOMAS BUT FOR SCARS.” —ELBERT HUBBARD 

Photo of our visit last week with Family Members.

Have a Soulful Sunday

And its a GLORIOUS MORNING TOO!!!!

☆╰╮. ≀ .╭╯ ☽ .
. ⌣⌢ (ˆ ◡ˆ) ⌢⌣ .
. ☾ ╭╯˙≀˙╰╮ ☆ Goooood Morning

 May your day be blessed with love and laughter and everything that brings peace to your heart and home.

The Secret of Heaven and Hell

The old monk sat by the side of the road. With his eyes closed, his legs crossed and his hands folded in his lap, he sat. In deep meditation, he sat. Suddenly his zazen was interrupted by the harsh and demanding voice of a samurai warrior. "Old man! Teach me about heaven and hell!"

At first, as though he had not heard, there was no perceptible response from the monk. But gradually he began to open his eyes, the faintest hint of a smile playing around the corners of his mouth as the samurai stood there, waiting impatiently, growing more and more agitated with each passing second. "You wish to know the secrets of heaven and hell?" replied the monk at last. "You who are so unkempt. You whose hands and feet are covered with dirt. You whose hair is uncombed, whose breath is foul, whose sword is all rusty and...
neglected. You who are ugly and whose mother dresses you funny. You would ask me of heaven and hell?"

The samurai uttered a vile curse. He drew his sword and raised it high above his head. His face turned to crimson and the veins on his neck stood out in bold relief as he prepared to sever the monk's head from its shoulders.
 

 "That is hell," said the old monk gently, just as the sword began its descent.

In that fraction of a second, the samurai was overcome with amazement,awe, compassion and love for this gentle being who had dared to risk his very life to give him such a teaching. He stopped his sword in mid-flight and his eyes filled with grateful tears.

"And that," said the monk, "is heaven."
~Author Unknown

“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”
― Gautama Buddha
Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it. -Helen Keller
http://travel.cnn.com/gallery-40-travel-destinations-south-korea-742046

Twelve is close to where I spent my summer vacation camping. I live close to #2. Visitors always welcome!
In my sons words regarding number 12 and 2 Regarding South Korean Destinations